Football

Notre Dame's Joe Schmidt achieves goals by following the motto ‘Be All In’

When No. 5 Notre Dame plays second-ranked Florida State on Saturday, be on the look-out for number 38 in white.

Joe Schmidt, a middle-linebacker from Orange, California, has become one of the anchors of a defense that, despite being riddled with injures, had stood tough for a 6-0 Irish record this season.

Schmidt was not a scholarship athlete the first time he was in Notre Dame Stadium. In fact, he was the 10 year-old brother of a girl who ran track for Notre Dame, being given a tour by his future brother-in-law, a ND baseball standout. It was then that Schmidt fell in love with Notre Dame and made it his goal to play football for the Irish.

Schmidt made a couple trips back to South Bend, Indiana in the coming years, but would have gone as a spectator and fan rather than a football play, had he not listened to advice his father had given him when he was four years old: write down your goals, do everything you can to achieve them.

Now a junior in college, Schmidt still has his list of goals hanging above his desk. The one that sticks out the most? "BE ALL IN."